Arne Slot criticises Liverpool players following shock FA Cup defeat to Plymouth

Liverpool were defeated 1-0 by Championship strugglers Plymouth in the fifth round of the FA Cup and Arne Slot is not pleased with his player’s performance.

Ryan Hardie’s 53rd minute penalty secured a famous win for the side bottom of the Championship as Liverpool failed to score the decisive goal despite creating numerous chances.

Slot made 10 changes to the side that had beaten Tottenham 4-0 in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg last week and he was left stranded as things failed to work out.

Speaking after the match, Slot says his Liverpool players fell well short of expectations.

Liverpool players reacts on during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Plymouth Argyle and Liverpool. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

“It’s a great day for Plymouth,” Slot told ITV Sport after the match. “They had a good gameplan and they deserve all the credit for their performance today. We were not having a very good day, and a result like this is the outcome.

“I don’t think I can say the boys didn’t fight, because it was a fight for 100 minutes. Both teams didn’t really create many chances and the game was decided by a penalty that was awarded correctly.

“But in a game like this where the teams aren’t able to find many openings it is up to one moment and that moment was for them, and like I said they deserved it because they played a really good game.”

Slot went on to add that the displays of his squad players didn’t match up to his expectations, adding that he felt a sense of ‘hurt’ over the defeat.

“I think (the players here today) are able to do better, but this is a playing style that is quite hard to create your chances against, which is what we saw today,” he said. “But we expected to play a better game than this, but we give credit to Plymouth as well.

“It hurts everyone that’s involved with Liverpool, fans, me, players, we were all wanting to be in this competition but if you go out in one of the first possible games thats a setback.

“Today we kept on fighting until the last second. Maybe the only chances we created were in the last 10-15 minutes, so it wasn’t a work rate problem, but we couldn’t find openings and chances.”

Liverpool will be back in action on Wednesday when they face Everton in a rescheduled Premier League game as they hope to extend their lead at the top to nine points.